Direct Growth of CuO Nanorods on Graphitic Carbon Nitride with Synergistic Effect on Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

Novel graphitic carbon nitride/CuO (g-C₃N₄/CuO) nanocomposite was synthesized through a facile precipitation method. Due to the strong ion-dipole interaction between copper ions and nitrogen atoms of g-C₃N₄, CuO nanorods (length 200-300 nm, diameter 5-10 nm) were directly grown on g-C₃N₄, forming a g-C₃N₄/CuO nanocomposite, which was confirmed via X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Finally, thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) in the absence and presence of the prepared g-C₃N₄/CuO nanocomposite was examined by differential thermal analysis (DTA), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The g-C₃N₄/CuO nanocomposite showed promising catalytic effects for the thermal decomposition of AP. Upon addition of 2 wt % nanocomposite with the best catalytic performance (g-C₃N₄/20 wt % CuO), the decomposition temperature of AP was decreased by up to 105.5 °C and only one decomposition step was found instead of the two steps commonly reported in other examples, demonstrating the synergistic catalytic activity of the as-synthesized nanocomposite. This study demonstrated a successful example regarding the direct growth of metal oxide on g-C₃N₄ by ion-dipole interaction between metallic ions, and the lone pair electrons on nitrogen atoms, which could provide a novel strategy for the preparation of g-C₃N₄-based nanocomposite.